Van Gogh’s Inner Circle, Noordbrabants Museum review - the man behind the art

Light on paintings, heavy on the biography

Vincent van Gogh (b. 1853) could be difficult, truculent and unconventional. He battled with mental illness and wrestled with questions of religion throughout his life. But on good form he was personable. He was said to be an excellent imitator with a wry sense of humour, and was a loyal (if often fierce) friend and family relation. The Noordbrabants Museum's new exhibition seeks to humanise the artist and people his world.

First Person: Matthew Xia on why his production of 'Amsterdam' feels especially pertinent and vital now

The director sets the scene for his debut production at the helm of Actors Touring Company

I’m currently opening Amsterdam, my first production for Actors Touring Company since being appointed Artistic Director last year, at the Orange Tree theatre in Richmond and then in Plymouth early in 2020. And what better time to premiere a play for the Europe of the present, triggered by the Europe of the past.

High Society: Cannabis Café, Channel 4 review - pointless investigation into drug-taking

★★ HIGH SOCIETY: CANNABIS CAFÉ, CHANNEL 4 Pointless investigation into drug-taking

Watching people get high for no purpose

This was the first of a two-part investigation into... well, I don't know what. The voiceover of High Society: Cannabis Café said it was an experiment “to test the alleged benefits of weed” and the people featured all had “a personal motivation for getting stoned” as they visited an Amsterdam coffee shop, where dope is sold legally.

Fellner, LSO, Haitink, Barbican review - the master at 90

RIP BERNARD HAITINK (1929-2021) Mozart and Bruckner in one of his two last LSO concerts

Mozart fine-tuned to the soloist, ideal but never idealised Bruckner

So this is how Bruckner's Fourth Symphony should go. It's taken a master conductor just past his 90th birthday and an orchestra on top form to teach me. No doubt Claudio Abbado and Brucknermeister Gunter Wand could have done so, too, but I never heard them live in this, the "Romantic", and they are no longer with us.

Medea, Internationaal Theater Amsterdam, Barbican review - lacerating contemporary tragedy

★★★★★ MEDEA, INTERNATIONAAL THEATER AMSTERDAM, BARBICAN Lacerating tragedy

Simon Stone's homage to Euripides is faultless, while Marieke Heebink tears at the soul

Hallucinatory theatre has struck quite a few times in the Barbican's international seasons. On an epic scale we’ve had the Shakespeare compendiums Kings of War and Roman Tragedies from Toneelgroep Amsterdam, newly merged with the city's Stadsschouwburg to form this present company.

CD: My Baby - MOUNAIKI: By The Bright of the Night

Kiwi-Dutch psychedelic funk-rockers finally match their live reputation

My Baby are one of the most exciting live acts currently in existence. They’re a three-piece consisting of Dutch frontwoman guitarist/bassist Cato van Dijk, her brother, drummer Joost, and New Zealand blues rock guitar virtuoso Daniel Johnston.

The Miniaturist, BBC One review - a lovely supernatural soap

★★★★ THE MINIATURIST, BBC ONE Jessie Burton's novel is ravishingly visualised with 21st century highlights

Jessie Burton's novel is ravishingly visualised with 21st century highlights

Simon Schama called the Netherlands’ century of success an "embarrassment of riches". The thrust of Jessie Burton’s lavishly hyped debut novel The Miniaturist is that the Dutch felt guilty about their good fortune, and denied themselves the right to enjoy sugar, spice, and all things nice. The money went on surface things, on finery and furniture.